City tourism offices to merge

Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau and Office of Tourism to become single entity in cost-cutting effort

February 01, 2012|By Kathy Bergen, Chicago Tribune reporter

Thai tourists take photos from Willis Tower. Chicago is only 10th among U.S. destinations for international travelers. (Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune)

Chicago will combine its two tourism promotion organizations into a single entity in an effort to cut costs and reinvest the savings in beefed-up marketing, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office will announce Wednesday.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, the not-for-profit that sells the city as a destination for conventions, business travel and vacations, will combine with the tourism operations of the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, a city department.

The merger is expected to cut $1.3 million in annual administrative costs and eliminate a splintering of marketing messages, long a sore point for the hospitality industry here.

"By coordinating our efforts and establishing clear, measurable goals, we will show the world that Chicago is the best place to visit," Emanuel said in a statement.

The new organization, as yet unnamed, will formally launch July 1. It will aim to boost annual visitors from 40 million now to 50 million in 2020. In 2007, the peak year, the city drew 47 million.

Another goal will be to grab a greater share of international visitors to the U.S. The city ranks 10th in the nation now, with 4.3 percent of all visitors coming here. By 2020, Emanuel wants the city to push into the top five and to claim at least 6 percent of the market.

Don Welsh, president and CEO of the convention bureau, will assume those roles at the new organization. Emanuel is expected to expand the board of directors, from 25 to 35 members, to include representation from neighborhoods and from arts organizations, said Welsh, who was hired away from Indianapolis about a year ago.

The merger is an outgrowth of work by the Civic Consulting Alliance, the pro bono government consulting arm of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

"There are some real efficiencies to be realized," Welsh said. Some jobs may be eliminated as operations are combined, but a total has not been worked out yet, he said.

The bureau employs about 70 people now, while the city's tourism office has 91 full-time and 43 part-time workers, split between tourism- and arts-related programs. Some employees involved in arts functions likely will be shifted to the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Dorothy Coyle, executive director of the city's tourism office, will assist with the transition and will have the option of taking on a new role in the emerging organization, Welsh said.

"I'm excited to be helping with positioning the city for a goal of 50 million visitors," Coyle said. Her post-transition plans remain open-ended, she said.

The new structure will shift some government functions into the private sector, as the new organization will be a not-for-profit, with a similar financial structure to the bureau.

The bureau's annual budget is $17.5 million, and its three biggest funding sources are state hotel taxes, airport taxi fees and membership fees, Welsh said. Separately, the city's office spends about $4.8 million a year on tourism-related functions.

An estimated budget for the new organization in the fiscal year starting July 1 has not been worked out yet, said a bureau spokeswoman.